Papers by Author: Lian Chong Li

Abstract: Under the combined effects of various external factors, such as temperature, seepage, alternate wetting and drying and so on, the mechanical properties of rock mass are susceptible to be deteriorated, and its strength characteristics are significantly degraded with time. The mesoscopic damage accumulated inside the rock, contributing the rock slope instability with weak structure planes, generate the time-dependent deformation, and eventually lead to the slope failure. Given the time-dependent deformation of the rock, numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the key factors influencing the long-term stability of slopes. Numerical results show that the catastrophic failure time of slopes is linear to its cohesion, and the bigger cohesion and friction angle increase catastrophic failure time, i.e., the stability of rock slope increase. In addition, the configuration of the intact rock bridge can also influence the time-dependent slope stability. Slope height can significantly affect the slope stability and the maximum horizontal displacement. Differences in rock mass storage environment play an important role in the long-term stability of slopes.

Abstract: Parallel fracture formation on surfaces of bi-layered columnar materials like growing tree trunk has been previously studied numerically. In this paper, numerical results of a continuous transition from parallel to polygonal fracture patterns with principal stress ratio provides the clear convincing theoretical explanation for fracture spacing. We perform three-dimensional simulations of fracture growth in a bi-layered columnar model with an embedded heterogeneous layer under inner radial expansion and terminal tension by finite element approach. As a result of this expansion, the bark stretches until it reaches its limit of deformation and cracks. A novel numerical code, 3D Realistic Failure Process Analysis code (abbreviated as RFPA3D) is used to obtain numerical solutions. In this numerical code, the heterogeneity of materials is taken into account by assigning different properties to the individual elements according to statistical distribution function. Elastic-brittle constitutive relation with residual strength for elements and a Mohr-Coulomb criterion with a tensile cut-off are adopted so that the elements may fail either in shear or in tension. The discontinuity feature of the initiated crack is automatically induced by using degraded stiffness approach when the tensile strain of the failed elements reaching a certain value. Numerical results of a continuous transition from parallel to polygonal fracture patterns with principal stress ratio are obtained by varying simulation parameters, the thickness of the material layer. We find that, except for further opening of existing fractures after they are well-developed (saturation), new fractures may also initiate and propagate along the interface between layers, which may serve as another mechanism to accommodate additional strain for fracture saturated layers.

Abstract: Based on mesoscopic damage mechanics, a numerical code RFPA2D (dynamic version) is developed to simulate the spallation process of inhomogeneous medium induced by reflection of stress wave, and the influence of duration of stress wave on spallation is discussed. For convenience of description and discussion, the failure area in the immediate vicinity of loading position of model is divided into two zones, i.e. comminution zone and fracture zone; and the failure area caused by spalling in model is defined as spalling zone. The comminution zone is affected little by the duration of stress wave, but the fracture zone and the spalling zone are affected to a greater extent by duration, also, the stability of specimen is affected by the duration of stress wave. Furthermore, if the duration becomes significantly long, the fracture zone corresponding to the maximum extension of the radial tensile cracks will be dominant in specimen. If the duration of stress wave becomes short to some extent, the spalling zone corresponding to the maximum extension of the tangential tensile cracks will be dominant in specimen. In addition, if the duration of stress wave is long enough, the specimen may lose stability.

Abstract: With the knowledge of heterogeneous characteristics of thermal barrier coating materials at mesoscopic level, a coupled thermo-mechanical-damage (TMD Model) model was introduced and used to numerically quantify the thermal stresses and crack development of in thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) composite subjected to decreased temperatures. The effect of different surface precrack morphologies, such as precrack length and precrack density, on an interface crack subjected to thermal loading caused by a temperature change is presented. It provides us with a more sensible physical intuition and a more accurate mathematical for optimizing the design and the processing of ceramic coatings subjected to the coupled thermal-mechanical loading.

Abstract: Many stiff clays forming part of natural slopes and earth dams exist in the fissured state. When these cracks are subjected to gravity induced normal and shear stresses they may propagate. The present discussion presents a numerical method to study the propagation direction of cracks under stress fields similar to those found in the field. Not only did the results on one crack propagation direction obtained from the numerical method and the analytical results agree well, but numerical results have been used to investigate the mechanisms of the whole process of two horizontal cracks initiation and propagation and coalescence in stiff soils.

Abstract: Using RFPA code, analyses have been carried out to investigate the stability of a rock pillar in a experiment for nuclear waste repositories, the numerically obtained stress field, temperature distribution, failure pattern of the pillar rock and associated AE events are all agree well with the in-situ data. Minor fracture initiation may take place in the vicinity of the boreholes after heating. Heating induces minor spalling at central pillar wall for 0.5 m sections below the tunnel floor, but the area of spalling is found to be limited. The core of the pillar remains intact for stress conditions corresponding to 120 days of heating which not only prove that the proposed technique provides a powerfully alternative and effective approach for the study on thermal-mechanical-damage coupling mechanism but also provide meaningful guides for the experiment design and associated applications.

Abstract: Based on the heterogeneous and porous characteristics of rock materials, a flow-stressdamage (FSD) model, implemented with the Rock Failure Process Analysis code (RFPA2D), is used to investigate the behavior of fluid flow and damage evolution, and their coupling action in rock sample that are subjected to both hydraulic and uniaxial compressive loading. A highly heterogeneous sample, containing grains, grain boundaries and weak zones, is employed in the numerical simulation. The simulation results provide a deep insight in the physical essence of the evolutionary nature of fracture phenomena as well as the fluid flow in heterogeneous materials, especially when they are highly stressed. The simulation result suggests that the nature of fluid flow and strength character in rocks strongly depends upon the heterogeneity of the rocks.

Abstract: A series of numerical simulations of hydraulic fracturing were performed to study the initiation, propagation and breakdown of fluid driven fractures. The simulations are conducted with a flow-coupled Rock Failure Process Analysis code (RFPA2D). Both heterogeneity and permeability of the rocks are taken into account in the studies. The simulated results reflect macroscopic failure evolution process induced by microscopic fracture subjected to porosity pressure, which are well agreeable to the character of multiple hydraulic fracturing experiments. Based on the modeling results, it is pointed out that fracture is influenced not only by pore pressure magnitude on a local scale around the fracture tip but also by the orientation and the distribution of pore pressure gradients on a global scale. The fracture initiation, the orientation of crack path, the breakdown pressure and the stress field evolution around the fracture tip are influenced considerably by the orientation of the pore pressure. The research provides valuable guidance to the designers of hydraulic fracturing engineering.

Abstract: A numerical model is developed to study hydraulic fracturing in permeable and heterogeneous rocks, coupling with the flow and failure process. The effects of flow and in-situ stress ratio on fracture, material homogeneity and breakdown pressure are specifically studied.

Abstract: Masonry structure is heterogeneous and has been widely used in building and construction engineering. The study on cracking pattern of masonry structure is significant to engineering design. Many previous investigations on the failure process of masonry structure are usually based on the homogenization technique by selecting a typical unit of masonry to serve as a representative volume. This kind of numerical analysis neglects the mesoscopic heterogeneous structure, which cannot capture the full cracking process of masonry structures. The cracking process of masonry structure is dominantly affected by its heterogeneous internal structures. In this paper, a mesoscopic mechanical model of masonry material is developed to simulate the behavior of masonry structure. Considering the heterogeneity of masonry material, based on the damage mechanics and elastic-brittle theory, the new developed Material Failure Process Analysis (MFPA2D) system was put forward to simulate the cracking process of masonry structure, which was considered as a two-phase composite of block and mortar phases. The crack propagation processes simulated with this model shows good agreement with those of experimental observations. The numerical results show that numerical analysis clearly reflect the modification, transference and their interaction of the stress field and damage evolution process which are difficult to achieve by physical experiments. It provides a new method to research the forecast theory of failure and seismicity of masonry. It has been found that the fracture of masonry observed at the macroscopic level is predominantly caused by tensile damage at the mesoscopic level.